Trotte (Münchenstein)

Last updated March 22, 2019

The Trotte (formerly known as the Zehntentrotte) lies in the village centre of Münchenstein, in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland.
The German word Trotte means wine press .

Münchenstein is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland.

The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte. Two further major steps in the development of the Swiss cantonal system are referred to by the terms Acht Orte and Dreizehn Orte ; they were important intermediate periods of the Ancient Swiss Confederacy.

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in western, central and southern Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The sovereign state is a federal republic bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285 km² (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million people is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities are to be found: among them are the two global cities and economic centres Zürich and Geneva.

Location

The ruins of Münchenstein Castle are situated on a long, but narrow rock above the urban centre of Münchenstein. The oldest residential buildings, that form the village centre are strung in a row along the foot of the castle rock. This pattern is interrupted by the inclination of the Trotte, which is situated directly below the castle ruins.

Münchenstein Castle is a landmark above the village centre of Münchenstein, in the canton of Basel-Land in Switzerland. The ruins of the castle (Schloss) can still be visited and viewed, but are under private ownership.

History

Up until the foundation and the erection of the Castle (Schloss), the small residential colony had only a few houses and the village was named Geckingen. The first historical records in written form was in 1196 and the colony was named as Kekingen.

Around the year 1260 the up-rising cavalier family Münch acquired the village on the hills adjacent to the river Birs and established their estate there. After the year 1279 the village Geckingen was called Münchenstein. The cavalier family Münch named themselves henceforth Münch von Münchenstein. During 1470 Konrad Münch von Münchenstein had to sell the deeds to the city of Basel. The Trotte served the farmers as wine press and here within the building the tax "Weinzehnt" was taped (every tenth measure was retained as charge/tax).

The history of the dynasty of the family Münch unfolded within a period of about three hundred years, between 1200 and 1500 AD. During this time the Münchs were one of the most influential family lineages in Basel.

Basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city with about 180,000 inhabitants.

As the governance/sovereignty of Münchenstein was transferred to authorities of the city, the Zehntentrotte was rebuilt. During 1560 it was totally reconstructed and expanded.

During the first half of the 19th century the building was refurbished into its modern-day status. Its interior was rebuilt, the wine press rooms were replaced by a large modern hall with oak pillars, a wooden ceiling and historical wall paintings.

Wall Paintings

Das alte Schloss zu Münchenstein
Ritter Münch mit seinen knappen
Heute baden wir im Rosen – da friss eine der Rosen

Das alte Schloss zu Münchenstein(The old Castle to Münchenstein): During the year 1334 the castle was completed and was at its largest. A few years later, the castle was damaged by the Basel earthquake on 18 October 1356, but soon restored to its original condition.

The 1356 Basel earthquake is the most significant seismological event to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history and had a moment magnitude in the range of 6.0–7.1. This earthquake, which occurred on October 18, 1356, is also known as the Séisme de la Saint-Luc, as 18 October is the feast day of Saint Luke the Evangelist.

Ritter Münch mit seinen knappen(Cavalier Münchs tight money policy): Anno 1300: Oh how marvellous the cavaliers Münch, with their tight money policy, could live in Münchenstein, they would drink the best wines and need not fork out for them.

Heute baden wir im Rosen – da friss eine der Rosen(today we bathe in Roses – here eat one of the Roses): Burkhard VII. Münch achieved sad reputation after the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs in 1444. According to the legend, after the battle where he acted as negotiator and translator for the Armagnacs, he rode his horse across the battlefield to witness the dead and the wounded. As he raised the visor of his helmet he uttered a sentence that was to become famous: "Ich siche in ein rossegarten, den min fordren geret hand vor hunderd jar".^[1] This ostentation and the arrogant phrase provoked one of the wounded Swiss pikemen to sling a stone into the open visor. The pikeman made the equally famous commentary "Here eat one to the roses".

Burkhard VII. Münch was a knight and life peer, a renowned late member of the Landskron branch of the Münch family. His reputation rests primarily on his death at the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs. Burkhard's death spelled the end of the family Münch of Landskron, which ended completely when his brother Johann IX. died in 1461.

The Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs was fought between the Old Swiss Confederacy and French mercenaries, on the banks of the river Birs. The battle took place on 26 August 1444 and was part of the Old Zürich War. The site of the battle was near Münchenstein, Switzerland, just above 1 km outside the city walls of Basel, today within Basel's St-Alban district.

The Armagnac Faction was prominent in French politics and warfare during the Hundred Years' War. It was allied with the supporters of Charles, Duke of Orléans against John the Fearless after Charles' father Louis of Orléans was killed on a Paris street on the orders of the Duke of Burgundy on 23 November 1407.

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References

↑ old German for "I gaze out into a rosarium, that my ancestors planted one hundred years ago"; a historically documented dictum according to the 122nd "Neujahrsblatt der Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Guten und Gemeinnützigen", Theme: Die Schlacht bei St. Jakob an der Birs, issued 1944 in Basel

Coordinates: 47°30′45″N7°37′16″E / 47.5125°N 7.62108°E / 47.5125; 7.62108

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[1] German for "I gaze out into a rosarium, that my ancestors planted one hundred years ago"; a historically documented dictum according to the 122nd "Neujahrsblatt der Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Guten und Gemeinnützigen", Theme: Die Schlacht bei St. Jakob an der Birs, issued 1944 in Basel